lighting

[Ricky92]

any ideas on how to build a light for a 48 " long tank, any ideas and if you can step by step diagram and what the materials are would be nice tnx

[coralfragger101]

Not really giving us much to go on here.

First thing you need to do is decide what type of lights you want and that would depend on what you want to keep in the tank.

You say you want to "make" them so I assume that what you are looking for is probably going to be some retro kits in whatever bulb type you end up selecting.

[Ricky92]

i want to make the lights from scratch do the wireing myself i just dont know how to do it and as for what kind of bulbs any thing that is good enough for soft coral (not that im starting one immediatly)

[kgross]

Rather than just saying you want to start from scratch, give us some real info. I don't believe you want to start out by blowing the glass to make the bulbs.

You can start out for a 55 gallon tank, with 2 ballasts to run 2 40 watt T12 bulbs each, and 8 tombstones or 8 good waterproof endcaps. Fasten all to the inside of your canopy and install some good aquarium bulbs.

This would be about the simplest setup, and you can get everything you need other than the bulbs at your local electrical supply house.

Kim

[hebygb]

I dont ever want to steer someone away from a DIY project. To me the process adds to the reward of a thriving tank. Some reefers can swipe a card and have a reef, others like to build and invent a reef... However, If your goal is to save money by building your own lights from scratch, I would advise not to. Unless you already have access to a RadioShack amount of stuff, you can easily spend as much building your own lighting as it would cost to buy a fixture or at the very least whats called a retro kit.

While fairly straight forward, even a retro kit can have its share of challenges, options, and opportunities to further customize down the road.

Knowing more about your system, your current needs, your future plans, and your level of expertise would help your fellow reefers guide you in this forum.

[Ricky92]

uhh if i knew glas blowing i would do that but no, kgross thnx for the idea, what i want to do is make a custom light for the tank i need to know what kind of stuff is needed just the basic wiring ballast etc and ill figure out how to design it. if you tell me how to wire it ill figure out how long ill make it or whatever else i need... but if this is going to cost as much to buy a light ill just need to save up i guess

[kgross]

You have to decide what kind of lights you want before anybody can help you wire anything.

For Flour bulbs, you normally need 4 wires for each bulb or for dual ballasts 3 wires per bulb.

For metal halide you only need 2 wires per bulb.

Normally about the least expensive unless you go NO flor, is to get a retrofit kit.

Kim

[chimmike]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14379480#post14379480 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ricky92
uhh if i knew glas blowing i would do that but no, kgross thnx for the idea, what i want to do is make a custom light for the tank i need to know what kind of stuff is needed just the basic wiring ballast etc and ill figure out how to design it. if you tell me how to wire it ill figure out how long ill make it or whatever else i need... but if this is going to cost as much to buy a light ill just need to save up i guess

My indication from reading your posts is that, while you want to do it, because you have no idea what you need or how to do it......I would suggest buying either a retrofit or a complete fixture.

As stated 3 times before, you need to decide what type of lights you want.

Keep in mind, a good retro kit will cost almost as much as a complete fixture.

www.hellolights.com

[Ricky92]

ok ill need to do more research altough im not planning on starting one yet, i want the correct lights for a soft coral tank